Yoga is making me strong!
I've really been on a yoga kick for the last little while. I think I really got serious about practicing regularly about a month ago. I've been using the American Yoga Association's New Yoga Challenge book, which lays out different exercise routines, mostly about half an hour to maybe 40 minutes in length. The book includes routines for flexibility, strength, focus, balance, fatigue, and emotional stability. I mostly do the easier routines: flexibility, fatigue, and focus (alliterative, too!). I like the emotional stability routine a lot, but it tends to kick my butt still. I started this focused yoga kick mainly to help with my back issues. A year after hurting my neck and upper back in an auto accident, I was still having some pain and discomfort. Actually, I was doing well and was pain-free while I was able to keep up my Middle Eastern dance classes. But when I had to give them up in January because of my class schedule, I stopped dancing regularly, and the pain and tightness returned.
An aside: because next quarter I'm only taking classes on Wednesdays, I'll be able to join the Monday dance classes. O, Joy!
My goal is to do yoga every day, even if it's just a sun salutation. But I probably only actually do it 3 or 4 times a week. Pretty good, even so. I'm noticing some real changes. I'm getting stronger, and I can do more repetitions of the asanas without being sore the next day. My back is feeling stronger and I have very little discomfort in my neck and back. I'm also losing body fat. My face is slimmer, as are my waist and thighs. Most surprisingly, though, is the increased muscle tone I can feel, especially in my ams and thighs. Some of that increased muscle tone is from massage class, but its also from my yoga practice. I'm very pleased and surprised.
An aside: because next quarter I'm only taking classes on Wednesdays, I'll be able to join the Monday dance classes. O, Joy!
My goal is to do yoga every day, even if it's just a sun salutation. But I probably only actually do it 3 or 4 times a week. Pretty good, even so. I'm noticing some real changes. I'm getting stronger, and I can do more repetitions of the asanas without being sore the next day. My back is feeling stronger and I have very little discomfort in my neck and back. I'm also losing body fat. My face is slimmer, as are my waist and thighs. Most surprisingly, though, is the increased muscle tone I can feel, especially in my ams and thighs. Some of that increased muscle tone is from massage class, but its also from my yoga practice. I'm very pleased and surprised.